Baby alleged to have lost arm in botched C-section by interns at Jinja hospital

A baby reportedly lost its arm following a botched caesarean section that was performed by interns at Jinja hospital in Uganda.

According to the Daily Monitor, the mother had initially been admitted to hospital for observation after developing complications.

She was later discharged by Dr Thomas Data, an intern.

However, a few days later, the woman returned to hospital days with signs of heavy bleeding.

She was attended to by Dr Mathias Ngobi, another intern who was assisted by Dr Lovensa Nakabito.

They are said to have taken the pregnant woman to theatre to attempt to stop the bleeding.

“The lady was 32 to 40 weeks pregnant and Dr Ngobi is said to have already done 40 C-section operation and was considered competent in this procedure,” a medical doctor at the hospital, told the Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity.

The two doctors later reported that was lots of adhesion from the previous C-section scar and they found it difficult to navigate after they opened up the woman’s abdomen.

“The interns managed a small incision and with the heavy bleeding, they decided to pull out what they thought was a dead baby, in the process, they  detached the right upper limb of the baby who weighed 1.1 kilogrammes and only realised the baby was alive after several minutes,”a source revealed.

It is believed that the baby’s father took a photo of the baby with the severed limb.

Director of Jinja hospital, Dr Edward Nkurunziza, is said to have requested the father to report to the hospital with the photo to help with the investigation.

A report was to be released early this week to the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC).

Pressure has since piled on the council to make public their findings.